David Cameron has said the leader of Islamic State would
be happy if the UK voted for Brexit. So, according to the Prime Minister, would Vladimir
Putin.

Both of these claims are very questionable, but the
appropriate response to both ought to be: “So what?” Suppose that Cameron is
right about this. Why should that make someone want Britain to stay in?

There
is almost nothing weaker or more pathetic than to insist on Britain’s
membership in the EU because of what some foreign leader or terrorist prefers.

Besides the rank fear-mongering involved, the problem
with Cameron’s claims is that they don’t make a lot of sense.

If Britain leaves
the EU, it makes absolutely no difference to jihadists in Raqqa or anywhere
else. Jihadists gain nothing from “Brexit,” and it is difficult to see how
Russia actually gains anything from it.

It is revealing that Cameron keeps
trying to make the case for Remain with warnings about the supposed foreign
policy implications of “Brexit.”

That suggests that he doesn’t have a lot of
confidence that British voters can be persuaded that withdrawal from the EU is
bad for Britain on the domestic front, and so he has to resort to making desperate
claims that it is bad for the rest of the world.

It also suggests that he
thinks he is losing the argument on the merits and has to fall back on trying
to frighten the public into siding with him.

Maybe it will work, but the side
that has to rely on alarmist rhetoric like this doesn’t have much else going
for it.